Physical Disability vs. Intellectual Disability

For me, one of the hardest things in caring for Annie was the difference in the way people responded to her pre- and post brain injury. Before her brain injury, people generally would smile at her, remark about how pretty or smart she was. After her brain injury, many strangers would simply stare at her as we approached.

People staring at Annie would bother my older kids a lot when we strolled her through the mall or around town. I tried to circumvent the staring by purposefully catching the eyes of approaching strangers and giving them my biggest smile. I thought that maybe then they would naturally respond by smiling, too. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.

I noticed as we entered the world of physical and intellectual disability that there was a hierarchy of disability, if you will. Physical disabilities generally are more palatable than intellectual ones. Think of it--if you're in a wheelchair but can carry on a conversation, people can relate to you. But if you're nonverbal, or somehow not able to relate